I’m Still Here…

Hello friends, it’s been awhile. A lot has happened, and I have been busy, but I have not forgotten you. Where to begin… I finished up Doxil chemotherapy in May. I was stable, some of the tumors were even starting to shrink. But the doctor wanted to save my last eight infusions for another time. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and we are not quite at desperate measures.

In June, we moved. We left Florida forever (I will visit, but I will never live there again). I was regaining my health, and I found my new sanctuary in Colorado. Florida was beautiful in a tropical way. There were tropical smelling flowers, calming beaches, and thick forests. Colorado is beautiful in a mountainous, rugged way. There is wild life walking through our yard, song birds of every variety, and hummingbirds galore.

We got settled and used to our new surroundings. I sat out in the cool evenings and watched the sunsets. In the mornings, I drank coffee and watched the sunrises. Then things started to brew. A few months into moving, I had my first bout of illness. Easily explained– it was the coffee. I was not used to drinking coffee, and coffee used to make me sick. I had a biopsy, too.

In July and August the storms started. The illness struck again, but this time it was Kale. I was trying to change my diet, and it had to be kale. It was too rough on my digestive track. The numbers on the scale were starting to creep up, despite me being a little more active. I decided I was going to hike the Bar Trail next year (13 miles walk, 7000 foot elevation gain). I had started to even run. I was accepted into Camp Mak-A-Dream.

Then in August, the poo hit the fan. The first week, I was sick, then I had a week where I felt a little better, then the next week I was sick. I had an appointment with my doctor on the 21st. The evening of the 20th, I got really, really bad. I had lost control of my bowels, I lost control of my bladder. My hands and feet contorted, and I could not move them. I had soaked a shirt in sweat. I stripped naked, and sat on the toilet for nearly three hours. I alternated between vomiting and having diarrhea. I didn’t know if I should go to the ER, or wait. Finally, the Zofran, Imodium, and Tylenol took affect, and I was able to put on a Depends, and go to sleep.

The next day it was confirmed. My cancer was no longer stable. It was growing, and producing fluid in my abdomen. I had gained 20+ pounds over the summer. I went from a size 10 to a size 14 by the time I saw the doctor. The fluid is called Ascites (pronounced- A-CEE-TEES). I was going back on chemo stat. The new regimen– Gemzar, Cisplatin, and Avastin. Three days after my first infusion, I checked my weight. I was down over 15 pounds!

The side effects weren’t bad. They were there. I got my second infusion on Labor Day. Yes, the nurses in Colorado work on Labor Day. Nurses are my heroes. A few days after my second infusion, I left for Montana! I was a little bit nervous. There’s forest fires in the area, but I had fun. I tried a lot of new things– horseback riding (I hadn’t been in over 20 years), archery, photography (next time I’m bringing my “nice” camera), writing, painting, and I could go on and on. The biggest thing for me is I made life-long friends that I would never imagine I could make. You see I have difficulty making friends. But the women I met there “got it.” The complaints I had about family and friends, who didn’t “get it” were the same. They understood that since my surgery I tend to fart loudly, that there are certain things I don’t enjoy anymore, and understood the time I wrote ten checks, because I could NOT remember how to write a check (chemo brain is no joke).

After four glorious days of forgetting I had cancer, enjoying the company of my new sisters, and just an amazing time. I came home. On Tuesday (the 12th), I started to have cold symptoms. It was just a cough. On Wednesday, the cough turned into a deeper cough, fever, and dizziness. I drove myself to University of Colorado Memorial North Hospital late Wednesday. I was admitted into the cancer-ICU ward (it’s combined). Several blood tests, infusions, oxygen, and fevers as high 103.6 later, I was diagnosed with influenza a. I posted on the group Facebook page, and we discovered over 20 women had similar symptoms, six of us with the full blown flu. I’m the only one still in the hospital. My platelets are recovering, my white blood cell count just went up. My bone marrow is non-existent. I’m on anti-viral medication, anti-biotics (even though I don’t have a bacterial infection, they are keeping me on it because I have no immune system), and some other medications. I am hoping to go home on Tuesday, but who knows. My chemo on Monday is cancelled.

The silver lining, because there is always a bright side, I get to catch up on my blog. I have edited some photographs, read a novel, done word puzzles, watched football, binge watched USA Networks Movies, and decided that I am going to play with plastic pumpkins and glitter, paint a few of my sunset pictures, do a mountain mosaic, and brainstorm on how to open an online gallery called “Teal Expressions”. There isn’t much sleep to be had in the hospital though. But anyway, you’ll be seeing more of me later.

Teal Expressions is an idea I have been playing with for a long time. I would like to have an online storefront gallery with women, who are battling (or have battled) ovarian cancer. It would be an opportunity for artists to earn money, raise money, and express their art. You can submit anything from visual art (prints, wall art, postcards, greeting cards), wearable art (jewelry, scarves, blankets, shirts), or media art (self published, poetry, self-published prose, produced music). If anyone is interested in assisting me on creating Teal Expressions, please comment below. I am in the planning stages right now.

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3 thoughts on “I’m Still Here…”

Hi Jody! I’m sorry we didn’t get to talk more at camp. It was a wonderful experience! I really hope you feel better soon. Big c is bad enough, but to get the flu on top of that is just terrible! I would be very interested in your Teal Expressions gallery. It sounds fabulous!

Jodi,
Thank you for sharing. I so enjoyed reading your latest post and your photography is beautiful!
I TOTALLY love that you wore workout clothing to chemo! Being a runner myself I also would do the same. So great meeting you at CMAD. Big hugs to you and hope you are feeling better after that nasty flu :-(. Karen Balousek